New York, November 29, 2022 -- Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") today assigned an A1 rating to Amazon.com, Inc.'s ("Amazon") new senior unsecured notes. There is no change to Amazon's existing A1 senior unsecured rating, Prime-1 commercial paper rating or stable outlook. The net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Assignments:
..Issuer: Amazon.com, Inc.
.... Senior Unsecured Regular Bond/Debenture, Assigned A1
RATINGS RATIONALE
Amazon.com, Inc.'s A1 senior unsecured rating reflects its powerful global brand, which is synonymous with online retail, as well as the strength and profitability of Amazon Web Services ("AWS"), the market leader in the cloud computing market. The company is reliant on the operating income derived from AWS, as its non-AWS profitability, particularly its online retail operations, have remained weak since the end of 2021. Online retail must contend not only with inflationary cost increases but inefficiencies in productivity. Amazon is taking actions to make its fulfillment operations more efficient as its business grows into its capacity, which was doubled during the pandemic. Amazon has also built a solid ecosystem of entertainment content that enhances its offering, operates a formidable third-party seller business and generates a solid revenue stream from advertising. Nonetheless, its credit metrics are currently weak for the A1 rating with RCF/Debt below 50%, as lower profitability, coupled with increased levels of investment have led to higher debt levels and lower cash balances.
Capital allocation will be critical to improving its credit profile as Amazon navigates a weaker economic backdrop that could dampen demand for its products and services and require cost reductions to restore profitability at online retail. Limited visibility into its strategic priorities and the potential continued pressure on online retail and international performance as it funds committed acquisitions of approximately $6 billion in 2023 (1Life Healthcare, Inc. "One Medical" and iRobot Corp.) coupled with lower cash balances increases its risk profile as the economy slows. The growing online presence of brick-and-mortar retailers, as well as the increasing competition from larger, well capitalized companies in AWS' universe also presents future challenges.
The stable outlook reflects our view that Amazon will quickly restore its credit metrics to levels reflective of its A1 rating. The outlook also assumes that Amazon will maintain excellent liquidity and consistent financial strategies.
FACTORS THAT COULD LEAD TO AN UPGRADE OR DOWNGRADE OF THE RATING
Ratings could be upgraded if Amazon's numerous investments generate commensurate levels of profitability such that RCF/debt is maintained around 65%. Additional factors that would be critical for an upgrade are the continued maintenance of very strong liquidity, a robust cash and investments to debt position and maintenance of conservative financial strategies.
Ratings could be downgraded if operating performance continues to weaken, or it becomes clear that investments are not paying off, or financial strategy is becoming significantly more aggressive with regard to cash returned to shareholders or acquisitions. Quantitatively ratings could be downgraded if RCF/debt falls below 50% for an extended period.
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Amazon.com, Inc. is the world's largest online retailer and a leading provider of cloud computing services. LTM September 2022 revenues were approximately $502 billion.
The principal methodology used in this rating was Retail published in November 2021 and available at https://ratings.moodys.com/api/rmc-documents/356421. Alternatively, please see the Rating Methodologies page on https://ratings.moodys.com for a copy of this methodology.
REGULATORY DISCLOSURES
For further specification of Moody's key rating assumptions and sensitivity analysis, see the sections Methodology Assumptions and Sensitivity to Assumptions in the disclosure form. Moody's Rating Symbols and Definitions can be found on https://ratings.moodys.com/rating-definitions.
For ratings issued on a program, series, category/class of debt or security this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to each rating of a subsequently issued bond or note of the same series, category/class of debt, security or pursuant to a program for which the ratings are derived exclusively from existing ratings in accordance with Moody's rating practices. For ratings issued on a support provider, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the credit rating action on the support provider and in relation to each particular credit rating action for securities that derive their credit ratings from the support provider's credit rating. For provisional ratings, this announcement provides certain regulatory disclosures in relation to the provisional rating assigned, and in relation to a definitive rating that may be assigned subsequent to the final issuance of the debt, in each case where the transaction structure and terms have not changed prior to the assignment of the definitive rating in a manner that would have affected the rating. For further information please see the issuer/deal page for the respective issuer on https://ratings.moodys.com.
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The rating has been disclosed to the rated entity or its designated agent(s) and issued with no amendment resulting from that disclosure.
This rating is solicited. Please refer to Moody's Policy for Designating and Assigning Unsolicited Credit Ratings available on its website https://ratings.moodys.com.
Regulatory disclosures contained in this press release apply to the credit rating and, if applicable, the related rating outlook or rating review.
Moody's general principles for assessing environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks in our credit analysis can be found at https://ratings.moodys.com/documents/PBC_1288235.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the EU and is endorsed by Moody's Deutschland GmbH, An der Welle 5, Frankfurt am Main 60322, Germany, in accordance with Art.4 paragraph 3 of the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009 on Credit Rating Agencies. Further information on the EU endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on https://ratings.moodys.com.
The Global Scale Credit Rating on this Credit Rating Announcement was issued by one of Moody's affiliates outside the UK and is endorsed by Moody's Investors Service Limited, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5FA under the law applicable to credit rating agencies in the UK. Further information on the UK endorsement status and on the Moody's office that issued the credit rating is available on https://ratings.moodys.com.
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Christina Boni
Senior Vice President
Corporate Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
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Margaret Taylor
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